In a financial system widely used, a magnetic card such as a cash card, credit card, or ID card of a bank clerk and a passbook having a magnetic stripe such as a deposit passbook are simultaneously processed in many cases. These magnetic cards are mainly inserted into an exclusive magnetic card reader and a magnetic stripe is read. A passbook is inserted into an exclusive passbook printer and a read/write operation of a magnetic stripe located on the surface of the passbook is performed, and characters or numerals are printed on the print surface.
Therefore, a processing apparatus capable of reading a magnetic stripe of a magnetic card, reading/writing a magnetic stripe of a passbook, and printing of characters and numerals on the passbook has a mechanism for processing a magnetic card and a mechanism for processing a passbook and each mechanism requires a head for reading a magnetic stripe and a mechanism for feeding a magnetic card or passbook. This causes the problems that the cost increases and the processing apparatus cannot be decreased in size and weight. Moreover, a control program is redundant because an independent mechanism must be controlled.
To solve the above problems, PR50 of OLIVETTI Inc. ("OLIVETTI" and "PR50" are trademarks of OLIVETTI, Inc.) uses a method of reading a magnetic stripe of a magnetic card, reading a magnetic stripe of a passbook, and printing characters and numerals on the passbook by one mechanism.
However, this method also has various problems. The first problem is one that its design makes it necessary to arrange feed rollers 311, 313, and 315 on a roller setting member 310 at a density higher than that of a conventional passbook printer (see FIG. 14) because it is necessary to directly insert and carry a magnetic card with a width of 85.6 mm and a length of 54.0 mm and to make a magnetic stripe of the magnetic card approach a magnetic head and it is necessary to arrange a roller setting member at a density higher than that of the conventional passbook printer. These restrictions on design result in the fact that the cost increases due to an increased number of parts and that the printer cannot be decreased in size and weight.
The second problem is one that the probability of skew of a magnetic card is increased, due to an irregular shape of embossment which is formed on most magnetic cards, when the magnetic card is directly inserted and fed. The embossment of the magnetic card is not always formed at a constant position. When a plurality of feed rollers are provided on a roller setting member, the likelihood of a magnetic card skew exists because the resistance value received by each feed roller is not uniform. To prevent the skew of the magnetic card, special consideration of design and addition of a special structure are necessary. This also results in the fact that costs are increased and a printer cannot be decreased in size and weight. Moreover, because the embossment on the magnetic card may interrupt the close contact between a magnetic head and a magnetic stripe, it may restrict the design.
The third problem is one that a design must be made so as to increase the pressure applied to each feed roller. A magnetic card is designed in accordance with the standard of ISO or the like (e.g., ISO 7811) and accordingly has a width of 85.6 mm and a length of 54.0 mm. Therefore, a decrease in the number of feed rollers for holding the magnetic card when reading a magnetic stripe by a magnetic head cannot be avoided. To withstand the force produced when the magnetic head rubs a magnetic stripe by a decreased number of feed rollers at the time of a read operation, design must be made so as to increase the pressure to be applied to each feed roller. However, when such a design is made so as to increase the pressure to be applied to each feed roller, a piece of copying pressure-sensitive paper such as carbon reacts when printing a document and thereby, a roller trace may be transferred. Moreover, the probability increases that a phenomenon (generally called a "bird's footprint" by those skilled in the art) in which the ink attached to a feed roller attaches to a print portion at every rotation of the feed roller when printing a passbook or document and while transferring the print portion. Moreover, to improve the feed accuracy while increasing the pressure to be applied to a feed roller, it is necessary to design the feed roller so that it has a large diameter. Therefore, the third problem results in the fact that the printing capacity and the transfer capacity of a passbook printer are deteriorated, the cost is increased, and the printer cannot be decreased in size and weight.
The fourth problem is one that a passbook printer may malfunction or the frequency of malfunction may increase. At present, most passbook printers use a reflection-type optical sensor for detecting the insertion and length of a document or passbook. In the case of a transmission-type optical sensor, a light source and the optical sensor must be arranged so as to hold a document in the normal direction of an document to be inserted. Because a passbook is normally inserted horizontally to the ground, the light source and the optical sensor are vertically arranged. Therefore, dust is collected on the light source or optical sensor arranged at the lower side and its function cannot be executed. In the case of a reflection-type optical sensor, however, a light source and the optical sensor can be arranged above a document and therefore, dust is hardly collected on it. Therefore, a reflection-type optical sensor is used for detecting the insertion and length of a document or the like. In the case of this reflection-type optical sensor, a detection range is set because malfunction or erroneous operation occurs when the sensitivity is set to an excessive high value. Because the range is set on the basis of the color of a document or passbook (color close to white) to be normally inserted, a problem occurs that it is difficult to detect all magnetic cards or optical cards which are formed with various colors (for example, when a card is matt black, it is difficult to detect the reflected light). Therefore, to adopt a direct magnetic card insertion method, it is necessary to select whether to increase the probability of malfunction or erroneous operation of a passbook printer, use a transmission-type optical sensor which is easily influenced by dust, or design a system so that a card with a less reflection color cannot be used.
The fifth problem is one that a design must be made so as to increase the movable range of a magnetic head. The data writing width of a magnetic stripe specified in the ISO standard is at least 85 mm from an end of a passbook. However, when the minimum width of a passbook is specified as 120 mm, it is unnecessary to make a magnetic head movable in a range of 35 mm at the left of the passbook. Therefore, in the case of the left alignment method (method for printing a medium such as a passbook or document by left aligning (left justifying), which is used by PR50 of OLIVETTI, 9055 of IBM and 4772 of IBM) used for many passbook printers at present, it is unnecessary to make a magnetic head movable in a range of 35 mm from a left guide of a feed path of a passbook printer. However, to read a magnetic stripe of a magnetic card by the left alignment method by directly inserting the magnetic card, it is necessary to entirely move a magnetic head to a left guide because the width c is up to 2.92 mm and the position where data is actually written is 7.44 mm (ISO standard 7811/4) separate from the right end (strip is read by turning it downward), as shown in FIG. 2. Moreover, to read a passbook and a magnetic card by the same method, the magnetic head contact moves (reads no data) in an unnecessary range of 35 mm at the left side of the passbook and this causes the magnetic head to deteriorate (this range may be in the area of the cloth rather than that of the magnetic stripe). To avoid the above mentioned, it is necessary to distinguish between a passbook and a magnetic card before reading a magnetic stripe by a magnetic head. Therefore, the fifth problem results in the fact that a magnetic head of a passbook printer is deteriorated, costs are increased by an additional mechanism, and the printer cannot be decreased in size and weight.
The sixth problem is one that the probability of a magnetic card not 20 reacting to a skew correction sensor increases. In particular, the center-insertion-type printer under development at the time of the present application (this description does not correspond to the confession that the printer of this type is already known to the public at the time of application) has a large problem because of correcting skew when a fed medium is skewed. As the premise, whether the medium is skewed or not is decided by two optical sensors set to a roller setting member at a certain interval in parallel. When both of the optical sensors are turned on within a predetermined time, it is decided that the medium is not skewed. However, when either sensor is turned but the other sensor is not turned on within a certain time, it is decided that the medium is skewed. In this case, if a magnetic card is directly inserted and fed, the magnetic card may not pass the position of either sensor or positions of both sensors because the magnetic card normally has a width of 85.6 mm. Moreover, when the interval between two sensors is too small, the detection sensitivity is lowered.
These problems of a passbook printer also occur in an ID card printer requiring a mechanism for feeding an ID card to print the surface of the ID card, an ID card encoder for writing data in a magnetic stripe of an ID card, and an ID card fabrication system for printing the surface of an ID card and writing data in a magnetic stripe.
The present invention solves the above problems by setting a record holding medium to a holder and thereafter processing the medium. A preferred embodiment of the present invention is applied to a passbook printer capable of reading magnetic stripes of a magnetic card and a passbook having a magnetic stripe (hereafter referred to as a magnetic card-compatible passbook printer). The magnetic card is set to an exclusive cardholder and thereafter inserted into and processed by the magnetic card-compatible passbook printer.
A preferred embodiment of the present invention makes it possible to design a magnetic card-compatible passbook printer having less restrictions on design and decreased in size and weight by the exclusive magnetic cardholder.
A preferred embodiment of the present invention provides a storage medium holder for moderating the influence of the shape of a storage medium to be read.
A preferred embodiment of the present invention provides a magnetic card-compatible passbook printer without deteriorating the printing capacity and feeding capacity of the passbook printer.
A preferred embodiment of the present invention provides a magnetic card-compatible passbook printer not being subject to increased malfunction or the frequency of malfunction.
A preferred embodiment of the present invention provides a magnetic card-compatible passbook printer not affected by the type of a magnetic card
A preferred embodiment of the present invention provides a magnetic card-compatible passbook printer having less restrictions on the design of the movable range of a magnetic head.
A preferred embodiment of the present invention provides a magnetic card-compatible passbook printer without influencing a skew correction sensor.